Four prominent Ontario school boards are pursuing legal action against major social media companies, alleging that their platforms have had detrimental effects on children's cognitive processes, behavior, and learning patterns, while also disrupting school environments.
The public district school boards of Toronto, Peel, and Ottawa-Carleton, along with Toronto's Catholic counterpart, have collectively filed claims against Meta Platforms Inc., Snap Inc., and ByteDance Ltd., which operate popular platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, and TikTok. These boards are seeking approximately $4.5 billion in damages, asserting that the social media companies have designed addictive products specifically targeted at children.
Rachel Chernos Lin, the chair of the Toronto District School Board, emphasized the need for accountability from these companies and urged them to develop safer products during an interview on CBC Radio's Metro Morning.
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